tennis32828 wrote:Why does it have the cheapo stick rod to hold up the hood? I thought all Hondas with six cylinders have the hydraulic hood lifters?

Nothing wrong with a "cheapo stick rod". It works. It never needs replacing. It's dead simple. And, yes, it is much cheaper. The only downside I know of is that Zeke, our one armed neighborhood mechanic, has a hell of a time setting one.

sickyute wrote:can't wait for more information. i may pick this up. compared to everything else on a numbers basis it seems the best.
price, power, mpg, features etc.

DO IT! ;-)

i take it u came away impressed after your time spent with the vehicle by ur enthusiasm. wish u could tell me more.

i get to test drive one April 3 if the dealer is on point. i'm seriously looking to pick one up. choices would be RDX, Q5 ... nothing else and if those fall through i'd just get a bigger SUV. infiniti JX, MDX or maybe just head back over to honda and pick up another pilot touring (got rid of my 2009 touring to help get my lil bro a civic).

really wanted the ILX but i'm not impressed and it just turned me away from cars lol. back to SUV/CUV or whatever for now. I'll wait it out and add a car later down the road.

Well, if you called this "car" an SUV in Virginia then you would be laughed at profusely. An SUV in the South is an Expedition. A compact SUV is an Explorer and everything else is just a car unless it has a bed to put your 4-wheeler in.

The skinny: Despite some shared components, it doesn't feel like a CR-V. The doors close with a reassuring thunk. Second-row legroom is surprisingly spacious for a compact crossover, without sacrificing a commodious rear cargo area. The navigation system has a weather-warning overlay, which came in handy as the test group drove smack into a spring snowstorm. Driving both front- and all-wheel-drive versions in the snow, the RDX performed capably. This is a strong effort and a good sign for a brand needing a home run.

THE VERDICTAcura discovered with the first-generation RDX that young males aren't buying these cars. Instead, couples are, both pre and post family. As a result, gone is the turbo and high-tech all-wheel drive. In essence, gone is the fun. In its place, however, the car has gained, well, more of everything else. It's lighter and more fuel-efficient. It's also significantly more refined. There's less of what people didn't really use and more of what they want.

With segment growth pegged at 12.6 percent through 2017, the RDX is poised to capture much more of that pie. A more mainstream option than in the past, about the only thing holding the RDX back is a more compelling design.

The folks at Acura can call it "high contrast" if they like; the RDX proves that as far a compact premium crossovers go, when it comes to the balance between performance and luxury, compromise isn't always a bad thing.

Inside, the RDX, like many other of the sub-TL portions of the Acura range, comes off as a very, very well-done mainstream car, and less so as an entry-level luxury car. Contrasted with the Audi Q5's interior, the difference is stark.

While the Q5 offers few materials improvements, the design, fit, and finish of the same raw matter is miles better, at least to my eye. It's like the difference between a higher-end off-the-rack suit (the RDX), and an entry-level custom tailored alternative (the Q5). Both are nice, but you'll pick the tailored suit from your closet first every time.

That said, the Q5, and the BMW X3 for that matter, are quite a bit more expensive than the RDX, which roams around in the $35,000-$40,000 range--about 10 to 20 percent more expensive, depending on the equipment chosen. And at similar price points, the RDX offers some things standard, or as part of the Technology Package, that the X3 and Q5 lack, like sunroofs, higher-end audio systems, or GPS-linked climate control.

On the other hand, the X3 and Q5 have truly high-end technology that's simply not available on the RDX: things like adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and parking assitance.

At the end of our day with the RDX, I'd come to the conclusion that while it wasn't fully into the luxury realm, it was competitive with the entry-level players, not just on the spec sheets, but in the real world.

Driving down the road, listening to a truly excellent Acura/ELS sound system in utter quiet, occasionaly dicing a curve a bit faster than the posted limit, then backing off and cruising in comfort, I was happy. Happy as I was in the X3 or the Q5. Perhaps not as full of myself when I had the German badges at my compass points, or when I glanced down to the controls, but eyes up, out the windshield, soaking in the saguaro and the sunshine, happy.

Somehow, despite the RDX having smaller dimensions overall (itís more than four inches shorter in total length), Acura claims to have almost exactly as much room for passengers, and even more useable cargo space than does the RX350. A neat trick, to be certain.

Answering the space issue is a great start for the Acura, which absolutely faces the stiffest in-segment competition from its Lexus rival.

A base RX350 FWD carries an MSRP of $39,075, while an RDX with all-wheel drive and Acuraís technology package is expected to start at $39,420 (the base Acura has an MSRP of $34,320). That means an awful lot of content for the RDX versus its primary competitor, even though the Acuraís price has jumped up by a few grand versus the outgoing version.

We also think that the RX comparison is especially apt, because itís very clear that the new thinking and engineering of the Acura has been geared toward a Lexus audience (i.e., a comfort-seeking rather than excitement-seeking driver).

Cost of ownership, residual value, and overall satisfaction may still trend in favor of the dominant RX, but the RDX at last poses a realistic cross-shop for this buyer.

VS: BMW X3 xDrive28i

The X3 with the 35i engine is more of a straightforward comparison, in terms of power, for the newly V-6-equipped RDX, but the slightly slower BMW still offers a more engaging driving dynamic.

For a bit less than the asking price of the new RDX, the X3 offers a willing engine, nice handling, and faster, more responsive steering. Of course the BMW is smaller, less frugal, less capacious, and a bit heavier, too.

A straight comparison test would be needed to iron out exactly which one is more compelling overall, but on paper the RDX presents one hell of an argument here.

Handling was another strength of the vehicle. Here comes the part where Acura made life a bit difficult for itself.

It scrapped the thrust-vectoring, which allowed the computer to drive each wheel at different speeds. In its place motion adaptive electronic power steering (EPS), which compensates for oversteering and understeering. It also lowered the center of gravity, widened the wheelbase, lengthened the wheelbase, bumped the wheel size, and lowered the vehicle.

Together this grab bag of tweaks made the 2013 RDX feel much more responsive than the first generation base models for both the front wheel drive and all wheel drive models. We were taking steep, curvy hill descents at 65-75 mph, and the handling performed beautifully.

Granted on the most extreme curves we did have to reduce speed slightly. Thus if there's a weakness based on the lack of super handling/vector thrust, you'll probably see it only on the sharpest corners -- the kind rarely encountered during standard driving.

Dang, extracted the wrong part of the above article. I meant to do this section since a lot of people were worried about the VCM:

While the engine is rather old hat, Acura invested substantial time into perfecting the shifting mechanism for hill ascent, descent, and flat travel under all kinds of acceleration/deceleration scenarios.

The result is a 19/27/22 mpg AWD (city/hwy/combined) and a 20/28/23 mpg FWD vehicle. But while that lean performance comes from liberal deactivation of cylinders down to 3 or 4 cylinder mode, Honda's new code ensures that when you demand performance all 6 cylinders come blazing into full effect.

Acceleration was on par with the also-quite-good V6 Audi Q5. Passing cars was a joy and remarkably easy.

By contrast the BMW X3 xDrive28i felt heavy and underpowered. The accelerator pedal fought you (versus the Q5 and RDX which could be smoothly floored) every step of the way and the engine took painfully long to respond to flooring the pedal. Also when backing off after flooring the pedal, the new RDX and Audi Q5 both responded appropriately downshifting and decreasing the RPM, noticeable by the quickly quieted engine noise. By contrast the BMW X3 28i continued to rev well after it should have toned down, a painful noise to listen to.

By contrast the second-gen RDX performed wonderfully, much better than its predecessor, placing itself in the league of the Audi Q5.

That said, in the long run Honda/Acura's experience VCM-wise could allow it to merge VCM with GDI, turbocharging, and possibly even a hybrid system. While incredibly complicated, such a system arguably may be the goal of every automaker, and Honda/Acura -- along with Chrysler and Volkswagen, have the VCM part of the experience equation, at least.

Just read the daily tech article looks like gps is now locked out for on the fly inputs. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Acura/Honda was forced to go this route, the reviewer made it sound like he was never in a vehicle were you couldn't imput addresses on the fly.

Thought this was a good breakdown for pricing vs others:
http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/Acura_RDX_Crossover_Price_Comparison.png

Interesting bit about the future posibilities:
"That said, in the long run Honda/Acura's experience VCM-wise could allow it to merge VCM with GDI, turbocharging, and possibly even a hybrid system. While incredibly complicated, such a system arguably may be the goal of every automaker, and Honda/Acura -- along with Chrysler and Volkswagen, have the VCM part of the experience equation, at least."

Mikeydred wrote:Just read the daily tech article looks like gps is now locked out for on the fly inputs. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Acura/Honda was forced to go this route, the reviewer made it sound like he was never in a vehicle were you couldn't imput addresses on the fly.

Even my brand new lowly $105 Tomtom will not allow inputs while on the move. My five year old Tomtom did not have this restriction. I'm guessing that there has been some new government regulation put in place.